Gym Common Sense
 

There are plenty of things you may be unfamiliar with if you have never made the journey into the gym and if you are new to working out or just unfamiliar with proper gym etiquette, this thread is for you. I will attempt to list behavior that are inappropriate/annoying to others who are trying to get a serious workout as well as general rules that all should abide by. If I miss anything (which I am sure I will) please feel free to add in your own.

1. Put the dumbbells back when you are done and put them back it the right slots on the DB rack. I don't feel like going on a goddamned "treasure hunt" to find a 45 # dumbbell that you were using for god-knows-what in some other part of the gym.
   
   
2. Bring a towel and wipe your nasty ass sweat off the benches and equipment after you are done. Seriously, this is just common courtesy people.
   
3. Rack your weights when you are done. I don't care if you're benching 95# or 405#, I shouldn't have to unrack your plates to load up what I want to lift
   
4. Socialization – save it for later. Don’t stand/sit around on the equipment having social hour with your friends. The equipment is for work, not for relaxing. If you want to sit down and chit-chat with your friends, go to Applebee’s – not the gym. Your main goal at the gym should be to get the best workout you can in the shortest amount of time. Can you spend 3 hours in the gym lifting? Yes. Is that better than getting your workout done in 45 minutes? I seriously doubt it.
   
5. Women at the gym – leave them alone and let them get their workout in. They do not want to be hit on while they are wearing no makeup and covered in sweat. Likewise, you should be concentrating on getting an efficient workout completed rather than hitting on women who are not interested in you. If you want to get rejected, I’m sure you can get plenty of that at your local bar on a Friday or Saturday night, community college, work, whatever.
   
   
6. If you see someone wearing headphones at the gym, do not strike up conversation with them. I, like many other people I know, wear headphones at the gym specifically to avoid wasting time with idle chatter.
   
   
7. It doesn’t matter how much weight you are lifting. Do not try to look cool by lifting more than you know you are capable of lifting. Benching 225 does you no good if your spotter is curling 100 of it. Everyone started somewhere and nobody is making fun of you for lifting a lighter weight than what they are lifting. If they are, they’re an immature asshole and not worthy of your concern.
   
   
8. There are many ways to display your own personal style while still wearing appropriate gym attire. There is no need to rock your pink polo shirt with your collar popped while intently curling 5lb. dumbbells. Any attention you receive from women based on this action will likely be in the vein of "Hey, look at that douchebag who thinks he's in a J. Crew catalog". It should not take you longer to coordinate your "outfit" for the gym than it does to do your entire workout.
   
   
9. dont pee in the shower. And there is no reason to stand around the locker room with your dong hanging out. Put some fucking pants on, wierdo.

Most annoying thing I see is when we are working on a machine, finish our set and are about to switch, durring transition some asshat comes from way out in left field and steals our machine.. I was on it you dick head.

The most annoying for me is when some bigger guy leaves way too much weight on a bench press and just expects others to take it out. Sorry, but I don't want to tear my muscles, and plus I always have to take all the weights off because the heaviest ones are on the inner part. Also, I hate guys that parade around naked in the locker room. So you have a penis, big deal, mine is bigger. Only girls want to see it, not a whole bunch of guys. Only place you should be naked in the gym is in the shower, and eyes should never go lower than the ceiling.

While I agree it's good to get a fast workout (I need to in the mornings or I get late to school), I don't think there's anything wrong with chit-chatting with someone for a minute or two as long as you're not hogging one of the machines.

I think one thing you missed D3V is cursing and loud grunting which gets annoying to anyone after some time.

Yeah that is true. Putting the weights back is just pretty much common sense, but the meatheads don't give a shit, nor do they care about grunting or cursing. My solution to that is to just wear some headphones, problem solved!

Grunting or growling is what people use as a means of pushing everything out of their body to try and get what they are lifting up. Its a free action that happens subconciously. 9 times out of 10 they aren't doing it just cause they think it makes them look cool. Talking with your friends is fine, is in a public place, pubilc means social, so you socialize. I think what d3v was saying is when you've got people waiting to use your bench and your sitting there talking it up.

I don't have any problems with people yelling/grunting. Because I know I am guilty of it, it's just a process of when you feel you are maxed out and are pushing your limits further.

Alright, you have a point with grunting, but swearing is pushing it.

BTW...

I agree swearing shouldn't be alotted, and in most gyms it is NOT allowed. If it bothers you to that point you can go tell somebody that works there, and if that doesn't work you could always ask them after they are done working out if they could lighten up the language, tell them a girl complained to you about it or something. Or... just wear some headphones.

Or grow some balls and ignore the mans vulgar language ;) Curseing isn't bad anymore, its allowed in schools our generation changed the world, say it loudly and proudly, FUCK YOU!!!.. love that song lol.

Except it's still not allowed in school, elementary school especially...

Yes it is, there's just this unwritten rule that you cant say it infront of an adult.. thought everyone knew that.

Who lifts in elementary?

I've heard that lifting under 13 years old hinders your growth, but kids still do it...

fix't

Haha. I lifted way before thirteen. It just doesn't do anything for your muscles, and can stunt your growth. I was fortunate though. It did put me at an advantage however, because I learned the proper techniques and which lifts worked best for specific muscle groups. This way I was way ahead of anybody else during school, and in the highschool weightroom; it is sometimes a competition..

That is true, but lifting even before 16 is a pretty stupid idea. You'll have plenty of time to work on your techniques when you start up at the correct age, rather than trying to fit in with the other morons trying to lift before their bodies are ready.

I started lifting a bit after thirteen with my dad, yet it wasn't that consistent.

Nowadays I've been going pretty much 2-3 times a week, and I still enjoy lifting with my Dad.

Well, if you aren't powertraining you should be okay. Lifting light won't be as bad, but still it's recommended by almost every study and survey to wait until your muscles have had a chance to mature a bit before working them out.

This is my present - day workout:

Tuesday = Arms and chest + abs and 10 minute cardio (if I have time, usually I don't)

Thursday = Shoulders and Back + "" and ""

Saturday = Legs and cardio as well as abs

I usually can't make Saturday though because I either sleep in or have school work to do. With Tuesday and Thursday, it depends if I get to sleep too late because of school or some other reason.